Media Kit

BIOGRAPHY

A powerhouse vocalist whose incredible stage presence and vocal maturity rank with the best, Elise Testone is the perfect combination of soul, rock, attitude and restraint. Equally as impressive and at ease belting James Brown style vocals over a relentless funk groove as she is resting her voice gently over a ballad, Testone’s range of influences and vocal capacity know few limits. Her first original album,

In This Life, released last year received rave reviews, celebrating her ability to “wail the blues, rock like a bitch and purr sexily” (Goldmine Magazine), however Elise is anxious to share her new music which is more focused in the Rock/Soul/Funk genres. Growing up in New Jersey with a father who collected juke boxes, Testone knew she was a singer even as a young girl. Exposed to music that ranged from Motown and the Beatles to Queen, she began studying privately at the age of 5, excelling and performing publicly at local coffee houses through her teens. Eventually graduating from Coastal Carolina University with a Vocal Performance degree, Testone came of age as a professional performer and private vocal coach in Charleston, SC, becoming one of the most seasoned and well respected musicians in town. Fronting acts like the James Brown Dance Party and Testone's tribute to Led Zeppelin would season her for her later career as a versatile songstress enabling her to hop on stage with the big dogs on the scene. At the age of 27 she was approached by a scout from television reality show American Idol and decided to use the opportunity (urged on especially by her students) as a stepping stone to propel her career, ultimately becoming a finalist on the hit show. Her stand out performance was Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love." She was also the only contestant in the history of the show to perform a Jimi Hendrix song.

In the wake of her appearance on American Idol, Testone has toured extensively and has appeared on such popular TV programs as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Live with Kelly, Access Hollywood, Good Day New York, Good Morning America and more. While she enjoyed her time on Idol, Testone has been excited to bring her own unique brand of music to the world, a brand that owes more to artists like Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, James Brown and Amy Winehouse than to today’s disposable hit-makers. She has opened for B.B. King, Snoop Dogg, Sister Sparrow and The Dirty Birds, and Dumpstaphunk, and has performed with Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd members, multiple Soulive and Lettuce members, Bernie Worrell, Leo Nocentelli of The Meters, Henry Butler, Skerik, and Stanton Moore, to name a few. She has performed at the New Orleans Heritage Jazz Festival in NOLA on the main stage, Catskill Chill Music Festival, Mayfest, Greenwich Town Party, and was an artist at large at Brooklyn Comes Alive. In a world full of vocalists who seem to be acting, Elise Testone’s performance is anything but that. Her heart more exposed with every note, it’s not uncommon to find her on her knees and out of breath at the end of a hard-driving soul tune – all in service of the music.